R.J. Ryan Archives - Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources

Archaia has provided ROBOT 6 with an exclusive preview of The Joyners in 3D, which reunites Syndrome collaborators R.J. Ryan and David Marquez. As the title suggests, it’s a 3D graphic novel about a family named Joyner, but it pays special attention to father George, an inventor. As his technology business is taking off, his private life is falling to pieces thanks to “personal betrayals, industrial intrigue, and sexual desire.”

The book, which comes with two pairs of 3D glasses, will be published later this year.

Passings | Italian comics artist Sergio Toppi has died at the age of 79. Most of his work seems to have been in Italian and French, but Archaia has plans to publish an English-language edition of his version of the Arabian Nights, Sharaz-De. [The Beat, Archaia]

Comics | Brian Truitt marks Spider-Man’s 50th anniversary by talking to creators from Stan Lee to Brian Michael Bendis about the 10 traits that make the web-slinger special. On a related note, Complex runs down the 50 most iconic Spider-Man images. [USA Today]

Publishing | If you’re interested in self-publishing, Todd Allen’s latest article about Ingram’s new, lower-cost color print-on-demand service is a must-read. Allen does the math for several different scenarios, in terms of format and distribution method, and boils it down into several handy charts. [Publishers Weekly]

Publishing | ICv2 provides more evidence of an increasingly robust direct market with the news that eight comics, driven by Marvel’s Avengers vs. X-Men and DC’s New 52, sold more than 100,000 copies in June, tying the number in November 2011. Those two months had the most titles over 100,000 since January 2008, when nine passed that milestone. In addition, three graphic novels sold more than 10,000 copies in June and and two sold more than 20,000. [ICv2]